The Basketball Africa League (BAL) has announced the 12 teams and full group phase schedule for its 2026 season, which will begin on Friday, March 27 at the SunBet Arena in Pretoria, South Africa, Trybal New reports.
The sixth edition of the league will feature 12 clubs from 12 African countries competing in 42 games. The Kalahari Conference group phase will run from March 27 to April 5 in Pretoria. The Sahara Conference group phase will take place from April 24 to May 3 at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Sports Complex in Rabat, Morocco. The season will conclude with the Playoffs and Finals from May 22 to May 31 at BK Arena in Kigali, Rwanda.
Among the teams confirmed are Dar City, the first club from Tanzania to compete in the BAL, and four other debutants: JCA Kings of Côte d’Ivoire, Maktown Flyers of Nigeria, Johannesburg Giants of South Africa and Club Africain of Tunisia. Returning champions include 2024 winners Petro de Luanda of Angola, the only club to qualify for all six BAL seasons, and 2023 champions Al Ahly of Egypt.
The full list of participating teams includes Johannesburg Giants of South Africa, FUS Rabat of Morocco, Al Ahly Ly of Libya, Al Ahly of Egypt, APR of Rwanda, ASC Ville de Dakar of Senegal, Dar City of Tanzania, Club Africain of Tunisia, Nairobi City Thunder of Kenya, JCA Kings of Côte d’Ivoire, Petro de Luanda of Angola and Maktown Flyers of Nigeria.
BAL President Amadou Gallo Fall said the addition of five new teams reflects the steady growth of the league and the development of basketball talent across Africa. He added that fans in South Africa, Morocco and Rwanda, as well as viewers around the world, can expect another exciting season.
National league champions from Angola, Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal and Tunisia qualified automatically for the competition. The remaining five teams secured their spots through the Road to BAL qualifying tournaments organized by FIBA Africa between October and December 2025.
Each conference will play a 15 game group phase, with every team facing the other five teams in its conference once. In the opening match, APR will play Al Ahly Ly at 4 pm CAT, followed by Johannesburg Giants against Dar City at 7 pm CAT. Tickets for the Kalahari Conference games in Pretoria are already on sale.
At the end of the group stage, eight teams from the two conferences will advance to the playoffs in Kigali to compete for the 2026 BAL title.
